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Wrath (TV Series)
"Wrath" is the sixteenth and final episode of the eighth season of AMC's ''The Walking Dead''. It is the one-hundred and fifteenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on April 15, 2018, the same night as "What's Your Story?", the season premiere of the fourth season of Fear The Walking Dead. It was written by Scott Gimple, Angela Kang & Matt Negrete and directed by Greg Nicotero. Plot The communities join forces in the last stand against the Saviors as all-out war unfolds. Synopsis In a flashback, Rick walks with three-year-old Carl down a country road, holding hands. In the present, Alden and the POWs clear walkers around the Hilltop's perimeter. Rick speaks to Siddiq about the circumstances of Carl's death. Siddiq explains that Carl was helping him kill walkers to release their souls, as Siddiq's mother once did. He regrets not having considered the risks. Hilltoppers mobilize to ambush the Saviors. Ezekiel predicts it could be the last morning for some of them. Rick, Maggie, Carol, Michonne, Daryl and Rosita discuss their plan of attack. Michonne wonders if they can trust intelligence delivered by Gregory. Morgan looks around Hilltop, confused and out of sorts. He strides aggressively towards Alden and the Saviors and knocks someone to the ground before realizing it's Henry. Rick suggests to Morgan that he stay back, but Morgan vows to finish the Saviors. Maggie refuses to let Alden and the Savior prisoners join the fight. Rick's army marches to battle. Saviors mobilize at the Sanctuary. Eugene informs Negan that he manufactured the munitions as requested. Negan shoots a dummy labeled "Rick" with a test bullet and grins. He gives a map to two Saviors, Lance and Duke, and sends them out. Rick leads a scout team to spy on Lance and Duke's group as they set up a road block. Negan, Laura, Eugene and Gabriel drive out together. Negan predicts that Rick will send a scout team to kill Lance's group as they set up their roadblock. He explains that he gave Lance and Duke, who were Simon's men, a decoy map to lure Rick's group into an ambush. Rick's scout team kills Lance's group and finds the map, unaware that it's a decoy. Morgan hallucinates and sees Jared. Rick radios Maggie with the new ambush location indicated on the map. Gabriel jumps out of Negan's car and makes a run for it. Laura and Eugene capture him. Negan punches Gabriel and orders him back in the car. Rick's army crosses a field. Jesus suggests Morgan abstain from killing people by reserving the sharp end of his stick for walkers and the blunt side for the living. A massive herd looms in the distance. A convoy of Saviors approaches Hilltop. Tara, Kal and others arm themselves. Rick's army advances to the ambush spot. Whistling begins just as it did on the night Glenn and Abraham died. Negan reaches Rick via walkie to explain that Rick's group is trapped. Negan and the Saviors appear on the crest of a nearby hill in a massive line and open fire, but their guns malfunction. The guns explode in their hands, killing many Saviors and injuring much of those who survived, including Negan. Rick's army charges. The battle begins in earnest. Hilltoppers evacuate. Tara, worried that the wailing of the baby will put the Saviors on their trail, stays behind to fight. Alden and the other prisoners insist on helping her. Regina attacks Eugene for sabotaging the ammunition. Rosita shoots Regina and two other Saviors, saving her old friend's life. Morgan goes to kill a Savior, but at the last moment heeds Jesus's advice and knocks him out instead. Tara and the prisoners prepare to attack. To their surprise Cyndie and the Oceansiders ambush the Saviors with Molotov cocktails. Defeated, Laura and the surviving Saviors surrender to Rick's army. Rick runs out of bullets and fights Negan hand to hand. They stop at a tree, where a framed stained glass window hangs from. Negan gains the upper hand. Rick asks Negan to grant him ten seconds to describe the future Carl envisioned and Negan acquiesces. Rick suddenly slits Negan's throat with a shard of glass. Negan falls to the ground clutching at his bleeding neck. After a moment of thought, Rick orders Siddiq to save Negan. Maggie screams and demands that Negan has to die, but Michonne holds her back. Rick orders the Saviors to return home and proclaims that Negan's rule is over. He points to the massive herd in the distance and declares that they must unite to fight the walkers, the real threat. Eugene confirms to Rosita that he sabotaged the Saviors' munitions, explaining that after their encounter he had rethought his decisions. The bullet sabotage was inspired by Gabriel's similar attempt that Eugene had previously prevented. Rosita punches him in the face for vomiting on her, but appears to forgive Eugene for his actions otherwise. Morgan gives his armor to Carol to pass along to Henry. Light dances on Rick's face as he weeps under a tree, saying to himself, "My mercy... prevails... over my wrath", chuckling. In Hilltop, Alden tells Maggie that he would like to stay to help build a stronger community, while also thanking her for giving him a new life. She agrees to his request. Rosita and Tara deliver supplies to the Sanctuary, where Saviors are rebuilding their compound. Rosita nods at Laura, who is planting a garden. Daryl releases Dwight in the woods with a set of car keys, and vows to kill him if he ever returns. Morgan goes to the junkyard and invites Jadis to join Rick's community. She accepts his offer, while also revealing her real name to be Anne, but he chooses to stay behind, alone in the Heaps. Dwight drives to his old house and finds a note from Sherry. He smiles, with newfound hope. Carol, Ezekiel, Jerry and Henry return to the Kingdom. Maggie meets Jesus and Daryl and declares that Rick shouldn't have spared Negan's life. She vows to prove him wrong. Negan recovers in the infirmary. Rick and Michonne inform him that he will rot in a cell for the rest of his life and serve as a reminder that people are capable of change. Gabriel walks through the burned-out church. He kneels at the altar and thanks God. In a flashback, Rick puts his sheriff's hat on 3-year-old Carl as they walk down a country road. In the present he writes a letter to Carl, thanking him for reminding him who he is, and attributes the new world in his honor. Other Cast Co-Stars *Kerry Cahill as Dianne *Lindsley Register as Laura *Macsen Lintz as Henry *Karen Ceesay as Bertie *James Chen as Kal *Nadine Marissa as Nabila *Peter Zimmerman as Eduardo *Anthony Lopez as Oscar *Mandi Christine Kerr as Barbara *Nicole Barré as Kathy *Mimi Kirkland as Rachel Ward *Elyse Nicole DuFour as Frankie *Chloe Aktas as Tanya *Autumn Dial as Amber *Traci Dinwiddie as Regina *Aaron Farb as Norris *Matt Mangum as D.J. *Colin Dennard as Lance *Stephen Shelton as Duke Uncredited Deaths *Lance *Duke *Savior 18 *Wade (Off-Screen) *Cam (Off-Screen) *Simon (Zombified, Off-Screen) *At least 200 unnamed Saviors Trivia *First (and last) appearance of Lance. *First (and last) appearance of Duke. *Last appearance of Jared. (Hallucination) *Last appearance of Carl Grimes. (Flashback) *Last appearance of Morgan Jones. (Unknown) *Last appearance of Dwight. (Unknown) *Last appearance of Amber. (Unknown) *Last appearance of Russ. (Alive) *Last appearance of Eduardo. *The title of the episode, "Wrath", correlates with the title of the season premiere, "Mercy", both of which come from the quote spoken by Rick and Siddiq : "My mercy prevails over my wrath." **Additionally, the scene in that episode where Rick says it is shown to be a flashforward to this episode. **This episode's title is shared with the penultimate episode of Season 2 of Fear The Walking Dead, marking the first time that an episode of the original TV Series and an episode of Fear The Walking Dead have shared the same title. * This episode is 70 minutes long, with commercials, according to AMC's schedule. **It is the thirteenth extended episode this season and the thirty-first overall. **This is the fourth season finale to be extended. *As of this episode, Steven Ogg (Simon) is no longer listed under "Also Starring". *Jadis' real name is revealed to be Anne in this episode. *Gregory is the only main character who is alive that didn't appear in this episode. *This episode marks the departure of two main characters (Morgan and Dwight). *This episode marks the first episode in which Cyndie appears in two consecutive episodes. *This is the first time a new episode of The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead aired the same night. **This is the first episode of the entire series that is played in Select Movie Theaters, as a part of Fathom Events. **The Season 4 premiere of Fear The Walking Dead is played directly after this episode. *This is the final episode to feature Scott Gimple as the showrunner of the TV Series. *According to Scott Gimple, this finale marks a conclusion of the first eight seasons of the show and marks a whole new landmark for the series next seasons. *Andrew Lincoln has confirmed that there were three possible outcomes in this episode for Rick, as he had originally wanted to exit the show this season. One was bleeding out under the tree after ending the war, two was a helicopter coming in to save Rick as it did in "What Comes After", and the final outcome was Rick surviving and remaining on the show until the fifth episode of Season 9. *This is the first episode to feature a flashback to before the outbreak since "Chupacabra". It also has the longest extension of time between the past and present, which is approximately nine years before the outbreak. **This is the first episode to feature any pre-apocalyptic flashback before Carl was 10 years old. *This is the first season finale since Season 4 where nobody from Rick's group or community has died. **This is also the first season finale since Season 5 to not feature any main character deaths. *Negan revealed that the outcome of his game of "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe" in "Last Day on Earth" wasn't random and that he chose to kill Abraham. He purposefully avoided killing Rick so that Carl wouldn't have to see it. **This also confirms Michael Cudlitz's theory that Negan purposefully chose Abraham, mainly because Abraham was posturing during the line-up and Negan felt threatened by him. *With Carl's death in "Honor", and Morgan leaving for Fear The Walking Dead as of this episode, Rick, Daryl and Carol are the only main characters left from Season 1. *Sydney Park's real life mother and father were brought in to play an Oceansider and Savior defector at Sydney Park's request. *Briana Venskus did not appear in this episode, instead her stand-in portrayed Beatrice at the Hilltop battle scene. **Additionally, this stand-in has been added to the pool of Oceanside extras for Season 9 as a separate character. Comic Parallels *The Militia final battle against the Saviors on a field is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 126, where the battle is outside Hilltop instead. *Rick fighting with Negan and getting hit in the stomach by Lucille is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 126, where Negan breaks Rick's leg instead. *Rick talking to Negan about how they have to find peace and stop fighting for Carl is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 125, where he tells Negan that the communities can work together for the future instead. *Rick distracting Negan and slitting his throat is adapted from Issue 125. *Rick telling Siddiq to save Negan before he dies is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 126, where he tells this to Harlan instead. *Rick's speech to the Saviors about working together is adapted from a similar scene in Issue 126, where Dwight tells them to give him a chance in leadership instead. *Rick telling Negan about his imprisonment in a cell until he dies from old age is adapted from Issue 126. Goofs/Errors *Background extras Jessica Marshall, Susan Boone, and Tia Davis are seen part of the Militia in the beginning of the episode, but are later seen fleeing with the townspeople who stayed behind at the Hilltop. *When the Oceanside women were throwing petrol bombs on the saviors, one of the women was leaning back her arm, as she wanted to ignite her bottle, whereas cloth of her bottle was already on fire. Category:TV Series Category:TV Episodes Category:Season 8 (TV Series) Category:Season Finales